The Cost Of Freedom 

A Watery Grave

There are no roses on a sailor's grave,no lillies on the oceans wave,the only tribute is the seagulls gracefull sweeps, and the teardrops a sweatheart weeps..........author unknown

Arlington National Cemetary 

Memorial Day

In a informal survey more than 90% of high school students could NOT explain what Memorial Day commemorates. In my opinion that is a disgrace on our educational system. As some of our more liberal pundants suggest that our students be taught sex education,basket weaving,social graces, and who knows what other wastes of our youths educational process, our youth are denied the sure and certain knowledge of what their forebearers sacrificed so that they are free to burn our flag in protest, the very symbol of the country that everybody is dying to come to. (just look at our illegle immigrants) So that this Memorial Day will not pass with out notice..........................................

World War 1

There were well over 100,000 men and women who bravely sacrificed their lives to fight in a war in a foreign land that was said to be the war that would end ALL wars.

World War 2

There were over 292,000 men and women who lost their lives in the defence of freedom in theaters of war in Europe and in the Pacific. There is also said to be nearly 12,000,000 human lives lost in Europe and more than 2,000,000 in the Pacific.

Korean War

There were nearly 300,000 men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice in the Korean Conflict.

Viet Nam

On the Viet Nam Memorial there are more than 58,000 names inscribed on the Memorial as giving their lives in defence of freedom. Also more than 12,000 died of battle wounds after their arrival in the United States for more care.


Granada

I am sorry to report I was unable to find statistics for this conflict.

Desert Storm

Again no statists are available to my limited resourses


Operation Freedom ( the second Iraqi war )

This conflict is on-going and no one can tell when it might end and the total number of casulties


So for all the people who don`t know why we hold this day sacred please look into it and learn what others have given freely so that you may enjoy the quality of life you do. Remember if you will each time you hear taps being played at the funeral of a former military person what he or she gave for you.........you.I know that is personel but the price these forefathers of yours paid was personel also.The above mentioned statists reflect only military casulties and say nothing of civilian losses or the effect that those lost lives had on their familys and friends. Well I have had my say here at Arrathorns Alley. God Bless America !

Just Till I Need Glasses 

So Whats New?

Just gonna use it till I gotta wear glasses. Now science has discovered that Viagra causes in blindness. Who does this affect? those groups of people who have the health issues that indicate the use of viagra in the first place . Sigh I think the old saw is right if it tastes good spit it out....it will make you gaine weight......If it feels good it must be bad for you...........Just damn.


~Factoid~Bulls are color blind. The flapping cape is what annoys them not the color of it.

Ride Em Cowboy 

Only In America

Only in America..........We drive on parkways and park in driveways.We insist on our own form of personel transportation,most probably a huge S U V that will never see off road action. We are permitted to drive a 200 horsepower motorcycle with out a helmet,despite the results of a accident to your brain pan. Our choices in autos range from the Mini To the Maxi...........BUT........... Every car is equipped with seat belts.This is a good thing. Seat belts have been proven to reduce the severity of the injuries sustained in the accident, and have drastically reduced the number of incidences of individuals being ejected from the vehicle.It isn`t a leap of faith, therefore, to conclude that seat belts are a good thing. Now that poses a question ....... Why aren`t seatbelts REQUIRED on school busses? Why isn`t our most valuable asset protected from harm in the advent of a accident?Why are we so hardened to a child being hurt or possibly killed just so that the transportation company won`t have to spend a few extra bucks on improving the safety of their equipment. In actually increasing the value of their busses.
Are we raising a nation of criminals? Shall we permit our youth to travel to and from school in a illeagle manor? Will the bus monitor tell them ........."now boys and girls if you see a police car duck down so that the officer can't see you through the windows. After all you know how mad your moms and dads will be if they have to pay a fine for you. Yes I know i`m asking you to do something illeagle now that the law of the land is click it or ticket but ya gotta help us out kiddos"
How can this poor excuse of a legislature require us to wear a seatbelt when we dont insist that our most valuable assets are afforded that very same protection.?
Only in America..........or thats the way I see it here on Arrathorns Alley

Jessica and Nick 

It's About Time

I am so tired of hearing negitive comments about our militarys involvment in the Middle East and how the general populace is not happy for us to be there. Our brave troops are doing a fantastic job of trying to bring freedom to a country that has never know what it means to wake up free.On Sunday night the only reality show I watch ......... Extreeme Home Makeover built a house for a family who lost there daughter in Iraq. They also built a Veterans center in their community for the other Veterans in the area.These people are to be commended for their efforts to recognize a familys loss to bring a Democratic government to Iraq. On monday I watched Jessica and Nicks tour of duty. Jessica Simpson and her husband, Willy Nelson,Big and Rich (A country band) and several other people went to Ramstein AFB and then on to Iraq to entertain the troops. I must say I am very proud of them for taking the time, the risk and making it all happen. I know that it made our troops feel good to know someone cares.

Home sweet home 

Time Lost

I suppose I should begin by apoligizing for not posting on my blog for sometime BUT It seems as though there is a rather long period of time where I was not available to anyone,not even myself. I seem to have memories of a dark and misty night, tall slim silvery creatures, and probes .........oh the cruel probes.
I found myself awakening naked and shivering close to the local swamp and that is all I know. If any of you kind readers have had similair experiences or even a different experience or would want to have a experience please post it here and I will attempt to plagerize it and use it to gain fame and riches for myself. Oh and one other thing...........when I see a dinner plate now I get the most over whelming feeling of being home sick........Please help me I have been out of mashed potatoes for nearly a week.............

Shades Of Mad Magizine

It really dosen't get much funnier than this debacle. This truy happened in Pittsburgh today and even I couldn`t make it up with twice the vivid imagination I am puported to have. A man got into a altercation with his brothers girlfriend. This caused her to attack him brutally with ( if you have small children please ask them to leave) a butter knife. His intial response was to pull out his handy pocket machette and attempt to fend her off. She managed a desperate phone call to her boyfriend who was, fortunately, sitting in a near- by tavern. He finished his beer and went to his ladys rescue and promptly shot his brother. At this point his brother will more than likely recover and live to tell how brutal a weapon a butter knife can be.If Alfred E Newman would of seen this occur I know he would of somehow incorporated it into a episode of Spy v Spy v Spy.


~ Factoid~ All mammals except apes,monkees, birds,and most humans are color blind.

How Can This Be?

I am jumping up and down mad at what our mamby pamby courts has decided to allow United Airlines to do. A person who has worked for a long time for United and has accreud sufficient time to be able to retire and draw a pension,now, has his life destroyed. To make them a better candidate for bankruptcy our courts have said .....ok lets let them out of this guarenteed debt (the pension plan) so that it will be easier to bail them out of financial trouble. I do agree that there are financial steps that could be taken such as reducing the salarys of their top executives, perhaps reducing the number of flights to certain cities so that the planes are not flying nearly empty, or maybe even reducing the number of seats on the actual aircraft so that someone could actually sit there without feeling crammed in like a freakin sardine.Perhaps people would consider flying to more locations,and perhaps bussines would pick up. Instead they chose to make the cuts in areas that don`t really affect them ......like in other peoples lives. This folks have worked all of their lives and have counted on their pension being irrevokable,which it should be. After all this pension was a benefit that was duly negotiated by both sides and agreed on by both sides. As such it should be untouchable by anyone. It should be sacrosanct.
I used to be in favor of unions and was actually a high ranking officer in my local union. The union became a political action wing and stopped being concerned with the well being of the employees it represented. In my opinion if United Airlines is allowed to disrupt the lives of its former employess, every working person,every union person, anyone who has dealings with third parties managing their futures should go on strike untill every person in this country who has had pensions revoked,benefits altered, and other guarenteed benefits removed should go on strike untill it is resolved. It is time the working class of America ...the very people who elevated our country to its high standards today, has their benefits restored to them. At least that is the way I see it here on Arrathorns Alley.


~ Factoid # 6~

The rocks on the moon are between 3.6 and 4 million years old.

Happy Mothers Day

I suppose if we all look way down in the bottem of our wallets or purses we would all find a I.O.U. like this one...................

Mom ...I.O.U. for so many things,so many services like,Night Watchman for instance.For lying awake nights,listening for coughs,crys,creaking floorboards and me comming in way too late.You had the eye of a eagle and the roar of a lion. But you always had a heart as big as a house.
I.O.U. for services as a short order cook,a baker,a chef,for being able to make sirloin out of hamburger and turkey out of tuna fish and two strapping boys out of left overs.
I.O.U. for cleaning services,for the daily scrubbing of faces and ears, all that work done by hand all those frequent dustings of a smal boys pants to make sure he lead a spotless life. For washing and ironing no cleaning service could ever do.For drying the tears of childhood, and ironing out the problems of growing up.
I.O.U. for services as a body guard, for protecting me from the terrors of a thunderstorm, or nightmares,and too many green apples.
I.O.U. for medical attention like nursing me through measels, mumps bumps, bruises,spring fever, splinters and lets not forget medical advise like don`t scratch it or it will never heal or don't cross your eys like that or they will stick that way or maybe most important of all make sure you have clean underwear on in case your in a accident.
I.O.U. for vetinary services,for feeding every lost dog I brought home and for healing the pain of puppy love.
I.O.U. for entertainment,it kept the household going through some pretty tough times and for makin believe come true on a very limited budget. And another thing Mom......................
I.O. U. for construction work for building kites,and confidence and hopes and dreams and somehow you made them all soar and touch the sky.Also for cementing a family together so that it would survive the worst kinds of shocks and blows,and also for laying down a good foundation that you can build a life on.
I.O.U for carrying charges like carrying me on your books for things a small boy really needs to have,like maybe that pair of high top boots with the little pocket on them for my jack knife. One thing I will never forget iswhen there were three hungry people, and only two pieces of apple pie, how suddenly you remembered you didn't like apple pie.
Well those are just a few of the.things that are long overdue. The person I owe them to,worked very cheap. She managed to get by by doing without a whole lot of things she needed herself. My I.O.U.'s add up to a whole lot more than I could ever hope to repay, and the nicest part of it all is she would mark it all Paid In Full for four little words........Mom, I Love You.

Look...Are Ya gonna give up the ciggies or do I have to get the rest of my boys? 

And I Thought I Had It Bad.......

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A South African zoo is trying to persuade its star chimpanzee to kick a bad smoking habit.
Charlie, a grown male chimp and the Bloemfontein Zoo, has been picking up cigarettes thrown to him by visitors and smoking them -- a habit he probably picked up by observing humans, zoo officials told the SAPA news agency on Thursday.
"Baby chimps pick up habits by mimicking adults and we think he started mimicking smokers at his enclosure which probably led to smokers throwing him cigarettes," spokesman Daryl Barnes told SAPA.
Barnes said Charlie was already showing the signs of a true nicotine addict.
"He even acts like a naughty schoolboy by hiding the cigarette when staff approach the area," Barnes said, adding that the zoo was determined to help him quit.
Barnes said the most important thing was that people stop providing Charlie with cigarettes or any other treats, noting the chimp already had three bad teeth because of all the cans of sweet soft drinks that people throw at him.
Charlie is not the only smoking chimpanzee. A zoo in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou reported last year that one of its chimps had taken up smoking and was desperately bumming cigarette butts off visitors.
var year = new Date()
document.write('© Reuters ' + year.getFullYear() + ". All Rights Reserved." );

© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.


This story brings into sharp focus how bad a drug nicotine really is. I am nearly 10 months free from its clutches and by gum I still want one. I must choose daily to not smoke and I am sure that sometime in the future it will become not as prominent in my mind.I just hope that time comes real soon. At least that is the way I see it here on Arrathorns Alley.


~ Factoid # 5~

The Moon has a sodium atom tail 15,000 miles long that can only be detected by instruments

The Once and Future Prime Minister 

Never Believe the Press

If the numbers are right comming in from Great Brittan, It seems as though Mr Blair will be enjoying another year as Prime Minister. The word from the press was that the Brittish citizens were opposed to Great Brittans support of the United States in the Gulf War in Iraq.
Our press reported nearly the same attitudes as the Brittish citizens and predicted a huge loss for the incumbents BUT it seems like once more the reality of the situation is very much different than the press hoped it would be.
Congratulations Mr Blair and thanks for having our backs.You know you can count on us if the need ever occurs. At least that is the way I see it here on Arrathorns Alley


~Factoid # 4~

The " RH" factor was named for the rhesus monkeys that was used to research blood types

A Great Sandwich 

A Challenge

A challenge has been issued from way up north here in Pennsylvania,more specifically it seems to be centered in Clearfield County.
It seems a local tavern named Dennys Beer Barrel claims they have a burger SOOOO big no one can actually eat it.
This burger is purported to weigh about 15 lbs. The meat weighs in at a hefty ten pounds,plus the bun,and 25 slices of cheese,two large onions,three tomatoes,a medium sized jar of pickles, a whole head of iceberg lettuce, and approximately one quart of a mustard,ketchup,mayonaise combination. This tribute to the Earl of Sandwich is said to contain about 30,000 calories (unverified)
There is a challange to any tag team to consume this behemoth burger called the "Beer Barrel Buster Burger" If it can be eaten in less than three hours by any two people you will win $40.00 cash (may substitute Pepto Bismol Coupons) Two Hats and two stretch tee shirts,complete with Dennys Beer Barrel logo.
Being semi -professional in such challenges, I am forbidden from giving it a go, but I would truly love to see someone do this deed. I`m sure it would do my heart good.



~ Factoid # 3 ~

A red blood cell lives for 80 to 120 days while a white blood cell lasts only a average of 13 days.

And pretty too........... 

Ladys and Gentlemen...........The First Lady

There is a new buzz in D.C............. Laura Bush is extreemly comfortable and competent in front of crowds. She captured many hearts and minds at a roast at the White House and was so good that,in my opinion,ever decides to run for office this is a woman that truly has a chance to make it happen.I think she is smart ,tough,and beautifull and the house on Pennsylvania Ave hasn`t been graced with a woman of this caliber since Jackie Kennedy. It is so nice to feel good about the white house and its residents.


~Factoid # 2 ~

The total ammount of air that both lungs hold when filled to capacity is six liters

She is gone............sigh

Well my Princess left to go back home yesterday and it never ceases to amaze me how empty this house and my life is without a childs presence in my home. I have always had children,mine,or someone elses around and I truly miss having those wonderously open minds to mess with. A niece was the best in makin up stories and her little motor mouth never stopped and now that she is gone and grown up on me, her daughter is stepping right up to fill her moms history without even knowing it.She selected about five different kinds of "spices" from the yard (most horticulturists would call them weeds) but to Miss Priss they are spices carefully selected for the pot of Jumbolayla she was cookin for everyone. She even accompianied her stirrings with a occasional phew and a wipe of the brow cause we all know how hard that cookin is.I must say it was a mighty fine scald on that Jumbolayla.


~


I think I am going to introduce a new feature on my blog starting today..........A Pointless Piece of Information. Let me know if you all like it and if you do I will try to keep up the effort of findin em HEHEHEHEHEHE

Factoid # 1 The average person breathes about 16 times a minute,960 respirations per hour, 23,040 per day, 161,280 per week, 645,120 per month, and 7,741,440 per year.